Visuals, tables, and document design
Exercise 1-Create a table (timeline)
Writers in the workplace are often required to organize data into tables in Word documents. Using tables enables the business reader to skim information quickly. Reference: Chapter 7 pages 220-226 (tables) and 227-251 (graphs); handout Cpt6b slides 1-17 (tables) and 18-26 (graphs).
| For instructions on creating tables, page breaks, justification, line spacing, and lists, refer to the file Word Features You Need for this Course posted in Course information folder. | |
| Incorporate business standards for tables:
· Make sure all money figures are right-justified. · Line up cents, thousands, etc. · Be consistent. If you drop cents or thousands in one cell, drop it in every cell. · Follow accounting principles, e.g., dollar signs display in the first column and in the total – not on every line. Or, if you define the type of numbers before the table displays, you may drop the dollar sign because the reader will know what the numbers represent. · Do not use “k” for thousands (25k); instead, use the full number (25,000) or put the denomination (thousands) in the column header and just provide the number (25).
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EXAMPLES POOR BETTER
| Rosa’s Lemonade Stand | Costs | Rosa’s Lemonade Stand | Costs | |
| Lemons | $15.25 | Lemons | $5.25 | |
| Bottled water | $5.25 | Bottled water | 1.25 | |
| Sugar | .25 | Sugar | .25 | |
| Total | $6.75 | Total | $6.75 |
EXERCISE: Assume that you work for PLANET (the Professional Landcare Network), a professional association for landscape designers and contractors. You have been asked to create a two-column table for the organization’s website (www.landcarenetwork.org) that shows the seasonal lawn-maintenance tasks landscape services or homeowners might perform over the period of one year. Use the following information to create your table:
- Mow: April to June (every two weeks), July and August (weekly), and September to October (every two weeks)
- De-thatch: April or September
- Aerate: April or September
- Fertilize: March, May, July, September, November
- Water: Twice a week June through September, or as needed
- Apply weed killer: February, April, June, August, October
STUDENT TABLE:
Exercise 2-Create a table (financial)
EXERCISE: Create a four-column table that compares sales in thousands of dollars among the various truck-parts divisions of the ABC Corporation for 2014, 2015, and 2016. Sales for each division are as follows:
- Axles: 2014 ($225K), 2015 ($200K), 2016 ($75K)
- Universal joints: 2014 ($125K), 2015 ($100K), 2016 ($35K)
- Frames: 2014 ($125K), 2015 ($100K), 2016 ($50K)
- Transmissions: 2014 ($75K), 2015 ($65K), 2016 ($50K)
- Clutches: 2014 ($35K), 2015 ($30K), 2016 ($15K)
- Gaskets and seals: 2014 ($28K), 2015 ($25K), 2016 ($20K)
STUDENT TABLE:
Exercise 2a-Create a chart (optional practice)
OPTIONAL PRACTICE: Using the data in your financial table of the last exercise, create line or bar graph to compare the data. In Word, go to the main tabs, click INSERT, click CHART, and make the appropriate selection.
Exercise 3-Use typography and highlighting devices to create a basic report
Exercise: Analyze the document design elements and images of a corporate annual report. Create a short evaluation using a standard business format. Reference: Document design elements in the textbook in chapter 7, particularly pages 211-220 (typography, highlighting devices, headers, section headings, tables, images, etc.), or Handouts Cpt7a, Cpt7b.Also, see “Word Features You Need for this Course” in the Presentation folder.
STEPS:
- Select/access a corporate annual report from the list below:
Link: Alberta Dept of Culture and Tourism Annual Report 2016-17. Simple.
Link: Bank of America Annual Report 2017.
Link: Bloomberg Philanthropies Annual Report 2018.
Link: Citigroup Annual Report 2017.
Link: Nissan Global Annual Report 2017.
Link: NYC Office of Child Support Enforcement Annual Report 2015.
Link: Office of Child Support Enforcement Annual Report to Congress 2016.
Link: Planned Parenthood Annual Report 2016-2017.
Link: Proctor and Gamble Annual Report 2017.
Link: Walmart Annual Report 2017.
- Review the design elements, tables, and images in the annual report.
- Create a short (up to one-page) evaluation of the annual report in four parts:
- Provide a corporate title and a one sentence introduction.
- Create a section header entitled, Corporate images. Create a numbered list of one or two key corporate images and summarize the impact of each.
| Do not type up manual lists; use Word’s numbered/bulleted list functions (Home tab, Paragraph section, icons).
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- Create a section header entitled, Document design elements. Create a bulleted list of three to five document design elements and summarize the impact of each.
- Create a section header entitled, Impression of overall message. Summarize briefly your impression of the overall message of the annual report.
| Annual reports are full of corporate “spin.” Google the company (e.g., “Walmart problems”) and skim recent headlines/articles in appropriate publications. Describe paradoxes, if discovered, for example:
· Retail companies (popular products at low prices vs. worker exploitation) · Tech companies (new products vs. exporting jobs) · Energy companies (cleaner “dirty” energy vs. environmental disaster) · Food companies (fortunes in fast or snack food vs. healthy choices) · Agri-business (organic food vs. genetically modified crops) · Financial institutions (client trust vs. selling bad investments) |
ASSESSMENT:
Your evaluation will be assessed as follows:
- Identification of document design elements (25%).
- Evaluation of how corporate images and messages are created through graphic and document design elements (25%).
- Assessment of corporate images in the light of recent or major news (25%).
- Overall evaluation (25%).
SAMPLE EVALUATION
Start on the next page; create a page break by pressing <Ctrl><Enter> here.
